That the Marlins are dumping salary isn’t surprising. That they are dumping most of it with the Blue Jays, however, is.

How worried should the Orioles be that the Jays apparently are picking up — the deal isn’t official yet — shortstop Jose Reyes and pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle from Miami?

As pointed out by CSNbaltimore.com’s Rich Dubroff — who has his finger on the hot stove without somehow burning it — these big names, for whatever talents they possess, couldn’t keep the Marlins from losing 93 games.

However, if you’re so inclined to look at their stats, consider that Buehrle’s WHIP of 1.17 ranked 22nd in the majors last season, despite his 13-13 record and 3.74 ERA. Johnson’s WHIP was a respectable 1.28, even with his 8-14 and 3.81. The only Orioles starter in the same WHIP vicinity was Wei-Yin Chen, with 1.26.

Reyes still scored 86 runs despite playing for a lousy team and batting just .287, 50 points lower than he hit in his last season with the Mets, in 2011. What did the Jays get out of their shortstop in 2012? Yunel Escobar, being shipped to Miami, batted .253 and scored 58 runs. So even at the lower level of Reyes’ performance, he’s a significant upgrade.

Whoever ends up being the Toronto manager will have some tools at his disposal that the departed-for-the-Red-Sox John Farrell didn’t. And speaking of the manager, Foxsports.com asks this question: “Does Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos quietly have someone in place, or does he hope that such a dramatic trade will broaden the field of interested candidates?”

The track record of the players the Jays are getting argues for Toronto as being an American League East team to be concerned with for next season.